Late August always held a lot of excitement back then. It was the time when I had to decide whether I would keep my summer car or not. As the yearly inspection had to be carried out around that time, its results were the most important thing affecting my decision.
Now remember, that I had bought the model year 1993 car in 2022 for 1700 euros. During two summers I had driven 37 000 kilometers without making any repairs, whatsoever. I knew that there would be something. Little did I know, what was coming.
The inspector notified no less than 10 shortcomings, five of which were grave enough to fail the car and five, which were less severe, but would still have failed the car, because there were more three of them. The car failed the emission test, there was a hole in the catalysator and rust had eaten a hole in both the chassis and the body of the car. One shock absorber was also worn out.
The less serious issues were a loose handbrake, unclear headlights, a worn out reflector and a broken taillight unit, a missing plug for the trailer’s electronics and worn out windshield vipers. The protective plastic bay below the engine was also coming off.
I had received a three month grant for writing a novel and was about to take a sabbatical. My choices were to invest 1000 euros to the repairs of the car or get 800 euros extra money.
I sold my beloved Alice.
This is my final photo of it. I was left with a custom keyring with its name on it and lots of memories.